The invention relates to orienting downhole tools.
To complete a well, one or more formation zones adjacent a wellbore may be perforated to allow fluid from the formation zones to flow into the well for production to the surface. A perforating gun string may be lowered into the well and guns fired to create openings in casing and to extend perforations into the surrounding formation.
When performing downhole perforating operations in a wellbore, there may be a need to orient the perforating gun string. This need may arise, for example, if perforations are desired to be shot in alignment with a preferred fracture plane in the surrounding formation (e.g., generally normal to the minimum stress plane of the formation) to help in fracture stimulation of the well to improve well performance. By aligning perforations properly with respect to the preferred fracture plane, improved fluid flow occurs through the formations.
Other situations also exist in which oriented perforating or other downhole operations may be desirable. Thus, a need exists for improved mechanisms and techniques to orient perforating equipment or other downhole equipment in a wellbore.